


Puns

by mrs_berry



Series: Avril Amour (Adrinette April 2019) [9]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien x Marinette - Freeform, Adrinette, Adrinette April, Adrinette April 2019, Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, Banter, Dorks, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Humour, Jokes, Marinette x Adrien - Freeform, adrienette - Freeform, puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 07:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18426030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_berry/pseuds/mrs_berry
Summary: Adrien Agreste is on a mission to discover the ultimate pun that will make his Lady laugh. His guinea pig target? Marinette Dupain-Cheng.(This work was written for the Adrinette April 2019 prompt: Puns.)





	Puns

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Incoming bad jokes. I am not responsible for any cringing or facepalming that may occur. Viewer discretion is advised. Lol.
> 
> Anyway, this one took me a long time to write. I hope it turned out okay. Enjoy!

"W-what? Why me?" Marinette asked, dumbfounded by Adrien's out-of-the-blue request.

"I asked Nino if he knew anyone who seemed to dislike puns," Adrien began to explain. Shyly, he rubbed the back of his neck and continued, "And, without any hesitation, his immediate answer was your name."

"I-I see," Marinette blinked, still utterly confused about the whole situation. "But why exactly do you want to get me to, um, laugh at a pun of yours?" She tilted her head, as if the answer would come to her if she looked at him from a slightly different angle.

"I have a... _friend_ who doesn't appreciate my puns," he replied with a wry grin, remembering all the eye rolls and groans Ladybug had given him. He had gotten a smirk out of her on the rare occasion, but never a genuine laugh. But he was determined to do so. Even if it meant embarrassing himself in front of his classmate and friend, Marinette.

"Oh. Well, they sound a bit like me," Marinette gave a small giggle. Tikki laughed in despair internally, thinking _she is you_. Plagg was having similar thoughts.

"So... would you be up for it?" Adrien asked with a hopeful puppy-eyed expression on his face.

Was it even possible to say no to that face? It definitely wasn't for Marinette.

"Sure," Marinette agreed with a soft smile. She was almost positive she would regret it as she already dealt with Chat's puns on a regular basis, but at the same time, she was excited to spend any extra time with Adrien if it meant she could become closer to him.

Even if it was just as _friends_.

He was just so pleasant to be around. Of course she wanted more, but she had to remind herself that any time spent with him was better than none at all.

Adrien did a cute little fist pump in the air at her acceptance. "Thanks, Marinette! I'll be starting tomorrow, if that's okay with you?"

"Sounds good, A-Adrien," Marinette murmured with hearts in her eyes.

They said their goodbyes and Marinette prepared herself mentally that night for the onslaught of painful puns that were sure to be thrown at her the next day.

 

* * *

 

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien greeted. Marinette smiled and awkwardly waved in reply, words of greeting failing to fall from her lips so early in the morning.

Then, she looked around and noticed Alya and Nino were not anywhere in the classroom, despite class starting in about a minute.

As if sensing her thoughts, Adrien spoke up, "Nino is sick today and apparently he got Alya sick, too. So it'll be just you and me today," he explained, giving Marinette a friendly smile.

"Oh. Okay," Marinette replied, turning slightly red from the thought of her (somewhat) alone time with her crush.

Then, Adrien randomly chuckled, which shook Marinette from her thoughts and captured her full attention.

"The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar."

Marinette quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"It was _tense_ ," he concluded with a proud smile.

Oh. Right. _That_.

Marinette let out a polite—but forced—giggle, not really finding the joke funny.

"Hmm, I guess it wasn't that great," Adrien pouted.

"It was g-good," Marinette tried to reassure him. "But, I've heard that one before so it's, um, nothing really special. I don't think your friend will be impressed. S-sorry!"

"Don't apologize, I need your honesty," he replied, his pout morphing into a toothy grin. "Thanks, Marinette. I'll keep 'em coming."

"Great!" Marinette squeaked, happy to be receiving her crush's attention. Even if the subject was not exactly her favourite.

Class began and Adrien returned his focus to the teacher.

After the lesson, when the students were given time to practice what they had just learned, Adrien took the opportunity to turn around and try out his next pun.

"How did the picture end up in jail?" He paused for dramatic effect. "It was _framed_!"

Marinette laughed robotically, sounding less authentic than the first time. "That's not t-terrible." She grimaced when she realized that wasn't exactly a compliment. "I mean, err, it was somewhat okay. Pretty okay. Good, even."

Adrien chuckled at her attempt to be polite, but it wasn't what he wanted. "Thanks, Marinette. I know you're trying to be nice. But, can I ask you a favour?"

"O-of course! Anything for you!" she blurted, then corrected herself to avoid sounding like she liked him a lot more than a friend (which she did, but didn't want him to know), "I-I mean, anything for a friend..."

"Thanks!" He beamed, then turned more serious, but still friendly. "Can you please react with how you really feel? And don't hold back, please."

Marinette hesitated. "A-are you sure? I-I might end up being a bit, uh, savage..." she shyly admitted with a blush.

"That's perfect. Do you worst," Adrien shot back with a wink.

Marinette gave a sheepish smile and nod. She would probably still hold back. She couldn't bear the thought of hurting the feelings of such a pure and kind boy.

She tried to return her thoughts to the work in front of her, with little success.

Adrien cleared his throat and piped up, "Coffee has a rough time at our house. It gets _mugged_ every morning."

Marinette gave a tight smile and made no comment.

Adrien pursed his lips, giving up on that one as well.

"My parents said they won't let me drink coffee anymore... or else they'll _ground_ me." Adrien tried again.

Marinette paused and looked up at him with no trace of amusement on her face, just a questioning look. "Do you even drink coffee?"

"... No?" he admitted, but it also sounded more like a question.

"That makes that joke even less effective... n-no offense," Marinette muttered, but gave him a small smile to show she meant no harm.

"Good to know," he noted, looking up at the ceiling in thought.

He turned to her again, "Why didn't the cat go to the vet?" Adrien was excited by this one, trying his best to suppress his own laughter. "Because he was _feline_ fine!"

Marinette groaned, being directly reminded of her partner, Chat.

But then she remembered that she was listening to Adrien, not Chat, and she was quick to apologize.

Adrien had to reassure her, again, that he wanted her to react with how she really felt and not to feel bad about it. She reluctantly agreed once again.

A few moments of silence passed.

"How do you make a good egg-roll?" Marinette shrugged in response to his question. "You push it down a hill!"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "The only thing _rolling_ here is my eyes..." she quipped, then widened her eyes at her own pun.

"Good one, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed in delight, chuckling in pure amusement.

She blushed again. She had not intended to say that out loud. _Oops_.

Feeling a rush from her engagement, Adrien continued, "Do you know why I started sleeping in a fireplace?" To humour him, Marinette shook her head. "It allows me to sleep like a _log_."

She hesitated for a second, then decided to go for it. "Maybe you should start a _log_ of bad puns." Marinette didn't entirely want to admit it, but she was really starting to enjoy their pun battle.

Adrien laughed again, clearly enjoying himself as well.

"I have a few jokes about unemployed people," he paused and sighed in mock-disappointment. "But none of them _work_."

Marinette snorted. "Neither do your jokes."

Adrien burst into laughter. He had no idea Marinette was so good with wordplay! He loved it.

After his laughter subsided, he kept going, "Did you hear about the kid _napping_ at school? It's okay, the kid woke up."

"Please... wake me up from this nightmare," Marinette said, shaking her head in mock-disgust.

"Okay, okay. But did you hear about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of pop? He was lucky it was a _soft drink!_ "

"Just... no." Marinette didn't even bother giving a clever response for that one. She didn't want to be too savage.

"Whenever I undress in the bathroom, my shower gets _turned on_ ," Adrien said with a rather flirty smirk.

Which sent Marinette's thoughts to very inappropriate places, causing her heartbeat to accelerate and sending blood rushing to her head.

When Adrien noticed her reaction was not what he had expected, he realized he may have crossed a line. "Sorry," he mumbled, suddenly embarrassed as well.

They awkwardly sat in silence, before Marinette cleared her throat. "Adrien. If you want to make your friend laugh, maybe think up one that will be meaningful to them and that they probably haven't heard before. Like, what is their favourite book or movie?"

Adrien frowned, "I'm not sure... but that's a good idea."

"Can you think of a topic or something that is unique about them?"

Adrien closed his eyes in thought for a moment.

When he opened his eyes, he hesitantly stated, "She likes bugs. Her favourite type is a ladybug."

Marinette raised her brows in shock. So, he was coming up with a joke for a girl? Marinette couldn't quite quell the jealousy that bloomed in her chest.

"I-I see," she said then fell silent. She scolded herself for being distracted by the green _bug_ of envy.

Ugh, she was mad at herself for even thinking of that pun.

Shaking her head and trying to clear her mind, she searched the corners of her minds for bug puns.

"Okay. I've got one that I think is pretty funny. As funny as a pun can get, that is. Ready?"

Adrien nodded and looked at her as though he was hanging onto her every word for dear life.

"What kind of bug can't go into the men's washroom?" She paused, giving him a pretty little smirk. "A _lady_ bug."

Adrien blinked, then found himself crying with laughter. It was so perfect, he adored it. He adored Marinette; she was simply amazing.

"T-thanks, Marinette," he said between chuckles. "I think I'll go with that one."

And that brought the painfully punny morning class to a close.

 

* * *

 

That night on patrol, Chat was waiting for his partner.

He couldn't wipe the giant smile off his face. He was simply too excited to share his latest joke with his best friend.

A moment later, Ladybug arrived.

"Hey, Chaton. Ready for another night of patrol?" Ladybug greeted.

"You know it, LB!" he winked, then quickly added, "But I have a question for you before we go."

"Okay. What is it?" she asked patiently.

"What type of bug can't go into the men's washroom?"

Ladybug's jaw dropped at the question and the huge, dorky, excited grin on Chat's face. No...

Chat continued, assuming she was just confused. He couldn't wait for her inevitable laughter. Doing his best to hold in his laughter, he said, "A _lady_ bug."

Silence. Not even a groan of disgust.

Ladybug turned ghostly pale and promptly passed out.

**Author's Note:**

> At some point, I feel like Chloé or someone else might have interrupted (e.g., like the teacher might have told them to focus on their work). But I didn't want that to happen so I didn't let it lol. I just wanted to point out that I am aware of the lack of interruptions. 😅
> 
> Also, I've noticed that I kind of have a thing for partial reveals. Hope no one minds 😂
> 
> As always, I appreciate people reading and leaving kudos/comments. Thanks! ❤


End file.
